KOTA KINABALU: Fifteen political secretaries to state ministers took their oath of office before Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor here today.
Chief Political Secretary Abdul Kassim Razali led the 15 during the oath-taking ceremony, witnessed by state cabinet ministers.
In his address, Hajiji reminded all political secretaries, in discharging their responsibilities, to uphold the trust bestowed upon them by the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah state government to serve the people.
"The rakyat has given this new government the mandate to rule and it is incumbent upon us to do our best, more so in the wake of this pandemic that has brought many challenges and hardship across all sectors," he said in a statement.
Hajiji said it was also the task of political secretaries to keep their ears on the ground to counter and correct the rampant untruths against the government spread by the opposition on social media.
He called on all political secretaries to support their respective minister and work as a good team player.
Given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Chief Minister reiterated the state government's effort to help those affected.
He noted that RM160 million allocation was disbursed thus far, which has benefited over a million recipients, with over 144,000 food baskets being distributed to affected areas.
Those who took their oath of office today were political secretaries to Chief Minister Dr Roland Chia and Datuk Redonah Bahanda; and political secretaries to Finance Minister 1 Fairuz Renddan and Johari Saiman.
Others were Fadilah Sarbi, political secretary to Deputy Chief Minster 1 and Public Works Minister Datuk Seri Bung Mokhtar Radin; Arlinsia Agang, political secretary to Deputy Chief Minister 2 and Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan; and Yubidi Gompoyo, political secretary to Deputy Chief Minister 3 and Industrial Development Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam.
Also sworn in as political secretaries to state cabinet ministers were Datuk Yahya Dunggi (Finance Minister 2 and Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun); Jilias Lintan (Rural Development Minister Datuk Jahid Nordin); Datuk Siti Aminah Aching (People's Welfare and Community Development Minister Shahelmey Yahya); Noraini Idris (Science Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Yakub Khan); Ireneus Pagut @ Jreneus Pagut (Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Angin); Kurniawan Naim Moktar (Tourism, Culture, and Environment Minister Jafry Ariffin); and Ahmad Yusof (Special Tasks Minister Datuk Ariffin Ariff).
